dodgyJim73

how about notarization? which documents are needed to be notarized? thank you

We didn't get anything certified/notarized.

The only comment on the visajourney guides is that some people get asked for a certified copy of the marriage certificate, we just did a normal copy and sent it in.

I think my wife tried to get it nortarized and had a bit of trouble so we just threw our hands up in the air and said 'stuff it' and sent it off. It worked. If you do it this way I hope it works for you also.

Hi all.

I had my interview and was approved on Tuesday. Green card will arrive in about 2 weeks...yippee! So glad to be done with this paperwork for the next 2 years...

A couple of things I thought of during this latest process that may be obvious to some but could also help another.

1. The dreaded I-693 form question. I never sent this in with my AOS. I had my vaccinations covered on the DS-3025 form, everything was ticked off on that form and I took a punt with just sending that in and expecting a RFE...the RFE never came and I was never asked for it in the interview. I saw a lot of discrepancies about the I-693 form on this site when I was putting together my AOS package so was concerned about that.

2. The I-551 passport stamp. Didn't get it and according to the officer, don't need it. My green card will arrive in about 2 weeks, that is all I need. Not sure if anyone else got the stamp or not. I would have liked another stamp for my passport but it wasn't to be

3. I took every single thing I had to the interview...photo evidence, my chest x-ray (they never asked for it and the original form said I didn't need to bring it but I took it anyway!) etc. Of course they have your original application there so already have your photos etc. Our application had a ton of proof but if your application is lacking in this area or you've had a very short relationship before you got hitched then take some new photos since the beneficiary has been living in the USA and make sure there's some photos with other people in there as well. Our officer checked in detail to make sure we had photos from both countries he asked us the dates and stories behind about 7-8 photos so it's a good idea to freshen up your memory on your photos that you previously sent in. Again, if your relationship is short make sure you are both on a lease agreement or on a utility bill or something like that. We don't have anything like that as my wife had already moved before I got here and we are moving in two months so didn't see the point in changing anything. They REALLY want to see some kind of evidence to prove you are doing stuff together. We had some joint bank account statements but we also had our wedding ceremony invoices from our venue and caterer that had both of our names on it. It's really important to get stuff like this. The officer said that when you have to send in the packet to lift your green card conditions they want to see as much of this 'joint' documentation as possible, if they aren't satisfied then they will call you in for a very detailed interview where they do separate you, otherwise if they are happy with the evidence they just lift the conditions, send you your full unconditional green card in the mail and you are done!

We got married at city hall when I first arrived but our official wedding ceremony is taking place in September. The officer didn't care about that too much, just asked why we did it that way and I explained so friends and family had time to plan their trip etc...common sense stuff.

He asked how we met. How many times each of us flew to the other persons country. Basic stuff. All in all the interview was pretty easy and only took about 15 minutes. The wife came with me, we sat together, I answered some questions she answered others, we answered some together.

Don't be nervous, it's pretty easy. No more stuff for 2 years but make sure you keep collecting 'joint' evidence for that last package! We should have a baby by then so I'll just sent the kid to them, that should be plenty of evidence and will give us a few weeks break

This is simple stuff but I hope it helps someone.

P.S. I passed my driving test on Thursday...it's been a good week. I'll never complain about Australian services again...the DMV is a disgrace

What the heck? They took her AP card and hole punched it? I had my interview on Tuesday and it was a breeze, I still have my EAD and AP card. Maybe it's invalid now, which would make sense, but the officer didn't take it or say anything about it.

You mentioned I-151...do you mean the I-551 passport stamp? Once I was approved I asked the officer if he needed my passport to stamp anything and he said 'no, your green card will be sent out and that is all you need, we don't have to stamp passports'.

I sent all of the items together in one package. Each form and required documents were included in its own plastic sleeve with a blank piece of paper on top clearly marking what was inside of each plastic folder.

This is what I put as a cover sheet on each plastic folder, written clearly with a black sharpie felt pen.

'Adjustment of Status I-478 form and supporting documents'

'Application for Employment Authorization I-765 form and supporting documents'

'Application for Travel Document I-131 form and supporting documents'

Sirdaniel42 is correct the amounts haven't changed. USD $1070 is correct and that includes all three applications I-485/765/131. Ignore the part about separate fees, they don't count as you are filing the forms together.

If it asks for duplicates for each application, like your passport bio page or birth certificate, then put the duplicates in. Don't put in one copy of a birth certificate to cover all 3 forms etc as it will most likely be sent back to you.

Mine took about 8-9 business days to receive packet 4. I think I had 19 days between receiving packet 4 and the interview, however my interview was brought forward so it took the timeframe to 15 days.

I'm looking at using Wridgways from Sydney - LA. They are about $400 cheaper than Pack&Send and Seven Seas. I'm shipping about 1 - 1.5 cubic metres of mixed stuff. heavy duty dive bag, plastic tubs, boxes, guitars and golf clubs. I'm also shipping my mountain bike.

I'm just waiting on confirmation now but when I got a quote back in September it was about $1200 for that.

I'm about to move to San Diego and I think http://www.meetup.com should give me enough activities to do while waiting for the AOS. You should try it, there's groups for everything you could think of!

Another poster mentioned volunteering at the Red Cross. I might do that too.

Are you sure it's $84? I just had a look over here: http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/prepaid-additional-baggage/global/en#airport-excess-baggage-and-heavy-charges and they quote $175. (I'd hate for you to turn up and be charged extra!)

$175 is only if you rock up at the airport and try to organise it. The $84 was for pre-purchased excess baggage but for some reason I can no longer find it and it's now showing up as $123 per piece for pre-purchased. I'm bummed about that.

EDIT: Oops. My fault. The $84 is for International - other than The Americas

Yep. Get a full blood test for all immunisations at your local GP. Also get a blood test for Syphilis as they need this as well and it saves you doing it (and paying for it) on the day.

You may need to get Hep A and B injections but let Dr.Waks call that one. I didn't because I'm 40 so if you're in your 20's you may need it. Also, If you take any drugs you should stop now and make sure there's a few weeks between when you stopped and the medical because the urine test will pick them up and then you have another set of problems.

I would definitely follow KPea's advice and call them back pronto. When I called they took my details and called me back after a couple of hours to book in.

2 or 3 boxes isn't much. Can you get a large suitcase and pay for the extra bag? I'm doing that with Qantas, they charge an extra $84 per bag so I'm jamming as much stuff as I possibly can right up to the 23kg limit! They let you take up to 5 bags so maybe you could take 2 extra bags for a couple of hundred bucks.

I'm using www.wridgways.com.au to send my stuff but I'm sending golf clubs, ski's, bike, dive gear, ski gear and about 4 boxes. What you'll find with those big shipping companies is they have a default fare which is about $800-1000 and then charge you on top of that for individual items.

I did see a post that someone on here wrote where they used Pack&Send for a few boxes because it's basically the same price as the surface shippers but you get it straight away whereas I have to wait 3 months.

My soon to be mother-in-law was a co-sponsor and it was fine. Provided the petitioner and the petitioners co-sponsor combined earn enough to get over the threshold there shouldn't be a problem.

At the interview the guy asked me who she was so I told him "my fiancee's mother"...was a strange question consider that on the form it clearly stated the she was my fiance's mother. Oh well

I sent 2 passport photos with packet 3 just to make sure because one of the forms said I needed them but they weren't listed on the checklist.

With the DS-160 form as long as you upload an acceptable photo it appears that is all that's required. When I was called to the counter for my pre-interview document collection stuff the woman gave me back the passport photos. I will now use them for my AOS

It might not hurt to throw the passport photos in with packet 3 anyway just in case there's something wrong with the photo on your DS-160, I'm all for being over-prepared

Hi everyone!

Moderators, please move this to the correct thread, I'm not sure how to post in the Australia specific forum!

I'm about ready to send off Packet 3 to the US Consulate in Sydney via Express Post.

Here's what I'm including:

1. Cover letter including table of contents

2. Form DS-160 confirmation page

3. Form DSL-1076 Applicant’s Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed (signed) & Checklist (just these two pages)

4. Form DS-230 Part 1 Immigrant Visa Application Part I, Biographic Data (signed) (just the first two pages, leaving Part 2 out)

5. Certified copy of Birth Certificate & photocopy

6. Certified copy of Birth Certificate translation & photocopy

7. Original Australia police certificate & photocopy

8. Photocopy of passport biographic page

9. Original Form I-134 (signed) & supporting documents:

- 2x letters from bank stating account information

- letter from employer (this was scanned and sent to me, so the signature is not signed in pen, it is a copy...this ok?)

- last three paychecks

- 2012 W2

- 2012 tax return

My medical has been done already just last week and results are being sent to the consulate. I've marked and made a note of this on the checklist.

I've ignored the instructions about forms DS-156 and DS-156K as it seems that they have replaced these with the DS-160 online form and seemingly have not updated the instructions they send out!

Am I write in thinking that the updated letters of intent (from both USC petitioner and I), proof of engagement and ongoing relationship (updated photos, emails with wedding venues etc), original birth certificate can be bought to the interview and I do not need to send these off?

If anyone can give me their thoughts, that would be soooo much appreciated!

Thanks so much in advance

OK. All you need is what they tell you on the original document that you are e-mailed for packet 3.

• DS-160
• I-134
• DSL-1076 - Applicant's statement of readiness, the checklist and your supporting documents

The DS-160 has replaced the DS-156, DS-156K, DS-157 and DS-230 forms so you don't need any of those.

You don't need to send any proof of your relationship with packet 3, this was already sent with your I-129F submission and they have this at your interview. You actually don't need to bring anything to the interview except for your interview confirmation page, passport and receipt of payment for the interview. I took the cautious approach though and took updated photos, wedding invites etc but none of it was needed. I would rather be prepared for anything though so if I was you I'd probably take some along just in case.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone, there's some really interesting information in this thread.

I've just received my K-1 and I'm flying out in 3 weeks so I'm starting to look at the required forms and best processes etc. for the AOS

Thumbs up to you all for the advice!

Ok thanks for the info. I have decided to take the train as I dont want to be caught in peak hour traffic. No traffic on the train lines.. LOL With 3 children with me also, I think i will try avoid any train changes. So I think i'll get the airport train link thru to St James station and then it's just about short walk down the block (if google maps is correct).

And also a good thing is that with the train fare, they only charge for 1 child.

Thanks for the info

Google maps is correct. It's a very short walk from St.James

I've taken the airport train a bazillion times for work and it has never been late!

Good luck with it all!

You are so helpful I cannot thank you enough! I've just read your interview.. WOW! Congratulations to you and your fiance, all the hard work has paid off and I wish you both the best! When do you get to leave Australia?

I have prepared packet 3 this evening and will be posting this via express tomorrow, thank god I decided to get on here and ask for help.

With the DS-160, is it only the confirmation page which I'm sending with packet 3?

And the DSL-1076, this is page 6 "Applicants Statement of Readiness of be Interviewed" along with the completed checklist?

I'm booked in with Dr. Waks on Monday 13th of Jan, very glad to hear they are great, that has put my mind at ease.

Yep, the DS-160 confirmation page is the only one you need to send with packet 3. I printed a full copy of the application but that was only for my records. DSL-1076, you need the Applicants statement of readiness to be interviewed page and the checklist page along with the supporting documents.

The I-134 is a bit ugly. My girl dealt with all that and I collected it when I was over there in November. From what I recall you do need originals so if you don't have them then will most probably need to get them to you ASAP, I'm sure somebody else can confirm hat though. We had bank account statements and balances, cover letters, tax returns, pay slips. Our I-134 was pretty thick but my girl is a contractor so I think she needed to provide more info.

I would follow Ozgirl1981's advice and get onto that extension letter straight away.

Hey! Thanks for the reply I've filled out the ustraveldocs profile, so if I take an express post and tracked envelope to the interview with my address written on it, will they use that envelope to send my visa? Definitely definitely want the tracking on that envelope haha.

Yep, they will use the envelope you supply. When you are called up to the first window the consulate staff member will take your passport, interview payment receipt and will return your original documents. I was then asked if I had an envelope so I handed that over and that is where they sent it. Easy

Although as PG & JW said above, they used Toll Express for their package so it's well tracked. I didn't know this before I went in so I was happy to cover my butt. Looks like you don't need to get the envelope after all

Yeah, there's still a lot of discrepancies with the steps

All you need for packet 3 is:

• DS-160
• I-134
• DSL-1076 and your supporting documents

Which it will say this on the main document, the other reference document they link to is still way out of date. You probably know this already by now but the new DS-160 form has replaced all the other requested forms (DS-230I and 230II, DS-156, DS-156K, DS-157) so ignore any references to those old forms. I'm so glad it's just the one on-line form that you need to fill out.

"Sent direct from PP" means the results will be sent directly from the Panel Physician, the doctor who completes your medical. It's safe to write this on the form as I e-mailed the consulate about it and this is what they told me to put on the form. See their response below.

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

You may mark “sent direct from PP” and enter the date that you had your medical exam done.

When you have obtained all of the documents, mail these to our office with DSL-1076 to advise the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney that you are ready for your visa interview.

I also e-mailed them because I had to change my medical and they said it was fine to put down the future date and send in packet 3. Are you seeing Dr.Waks or Dr.Rappaport? I had Celia Rappaport and she was great, Dr. Waks also gets good reviews.

Whatever you do...get the packet 3 contents back to them ASAP. They can't schedule you in for an interview until they have your full packet 3 documents. I received my packet 4 within about 8 days of sending in packet 3 so it can move pretty fast.

My interview was a breeze, you can read my review about it here: http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=168410

I would probably still e-mail them at the sydneyiv address and mention that your visa expires soon to see if they can expedite your petition or clarify any missing steps. You'll probably get an auto-reply saying something like "PLEASE NOTE that inquiries regarding non-immigrant visas are unable to
be answered from this address." with links pointing you to the ustraveldocs.com website. I still received an e-mail response from them even though the auto-reply said I wouldn't....

We're also flying from Melbourne to Sydney, arriving at 7:25am. See you there! May I ask if you've researched transportation at all? Two return tickets on the airport link will cost us more than $70! We're thinking that perhaps a taxi would be cheaper, at least if we take it some of the way and walk the rest. The things we'll do to save a few pennies these days.

A taxi in both directions will probably cost you more than the train. The airport train prices are an absolute disgrace, the public just keep getting gouged by private companies and stupid state governments

A return train trip will cost you $32.80 each. From the Domestic Terminal change trains at Central Station and get on the blue Eastern Suburbs line. 2 stops later you will be at Martin Place Station and directly across the road from the MLC building, where the consulate is.

Keep in mind that you are landing in Sydney at 7:25am...that's morning peak hour for taxi's at the airport AND for traffic on the roads. The train will take you roughly 20 minutes to Martin Place station.

Your interview is 9:30am....Imagine if your plane is 30 minutes late and then you have to wait 20 minutes for a taxi and then sit in traffic...all of a sudden a taxi isn't the most attractive option. You want to arrive at the interview cool, calm and collected. You've done too much work to get to this point and have a flight, taxi or traffic delay stuff it up. Consider the train.

Downstairs at the MLC building is a food court, if you are really early then grab a coffee and chill out. When you come out of Martin Place Station you'll be at the Channel 7 studio where they film the morning show with that bald Kochie guy. You could always take a sign that says "I'm moving to America" and hold it up at the window

Just my 2 cents...

Hey guys,

Getting excited about the interview!! I'm assuming you would have gotten the same interview appointment letter as me, where it says to bring a platinum/express post 3kg envelope, do we not have to worry about that because we filled in the profile on the UStraveldocs? I've heard different things combing through the discussion boards so just wondering what the go is. Maybe bring one in case haha.

Cheers!

They don't sell platinum envelopes anymore

You don't need to take an envelope anymore because K1 applicants can have it sent directly based on your ustraveldocs profile....BUT....I don't know how they send it out to you, it may just go as regular mail and I'll be stuffed if something that important is going regular post.

I took a normal express post envelope so I could track it and I paid the extra $2.50 or however much it is so it requires a signature as well. If you take your own express post envelope then you can have it sent to a P.O. Box but if you use the ustraveldocs postage thing then it will go to your residential address only that is listed in your profile.

You are talking about your passport and ultra-important documents that will get you into the USA. Cough up the extra $17 and pay for an express post envelope with signature and have the extra piece of mind!

There's still some discrepancies between the information in packet 3 that the consulate send you and what happens in the real world. There's other payment options available to you, not just Aus Post. You can pay via Credit card, funds transfer or at Australia Post. You need to make an account at the ustraveldocs.com site and follow the guidelines on the link http://www.ustraveldocs.com/au/au-niv-paymentinfo.asp

I just had my visa interview and approval at the end of December. I paid online with my credit card and printed the e-mail receipt and took it in with me and that was all they needed.

I'm confused about why you are filling out the DS-230 form...since early October the DS-160 replaces most of the forms that were previously used. On your DSL-1076 form you can complete the medical checkbox with "sent direct from PP" and put the date of your medical exam, this way you can send your packet 3 in before you had the medical.

The Sydney consulate can be a little hit and miss when responding to e-mail but they usually get things done. Normally if they see your timeframe expiry is getting close they move you up in the list etc. I had my interview on Dec 24th and my petition was due to expire on Dec 29!

Be careful using one of the big banks, they rip you off every chance they get. You get a non-competitive exchange rate and they usually stick their hand in your pocket and take out a fair whack as a 'transfer' fee as well. I asked at Bankwest and they were going to charge me an 'admin' fee of $80 - 120 to transfer $10k and on top of that give me a rubbish exchange rate as well.

I was recommended by some people at work to use Tranzfers.com but I think they have lower transfer limits than what you need, you might want to call them and ask. One of the guys at Tranzfers told me to use http://www.ozforex.com.au (who I think actually own Tranzfers anyway) because they handle larger amounts that you want to transfer.

I transferred $10k to my USA bank account. With Ozforex if you transfer at least $10k then they wave the transfer fee, which was only $15 anyway. The important part for me though was that the official exchange rate at the time was .9674 and Ozforex gave me .9564. The banks were offering something in the range of .9080 - .9150 so when I was transferring $10k, that is a huge difference, I had an extra $500 in my pocket.

Find out what your bank will give you as an exchange rate and see if there's any fees. Then compare that to Tranzfers.com and Ozforex and see what is the best deal for you. I'm almost sure you will be better off.

Keep us posted, I'd like to know what you find as I'm looking at transferring more money soon when the AUD lifts itself off the canvas...if it does

EDIT: Wells Fargo also charged me a $15 incoming transfer fee on my $10k. That was nice of them for doing nothing

The consulate told me I could put “sent direct from PP” and enter the date that you had your medical exam done.

Then you can send off you DSL-1076 form.

'Your case is being reviewed by the consular officer for their adjudication' - That line is interesting considering you were given the congratulations document. I'm not sure if it means anything or if it's the standard spiel they give you. Would there be any reason why they might go back over your package or have anything to question?

I had my interview on Friday 20th and was successful. I then received an e-mail today with a subject of 'Your issued K1 visa package is being sent to you today 23-DEC-2013'. I'm actually surprised it's moving so fast as I was told that it would take about 2 weeks to get it. I checked my tracking number tonight and nothing has been updated yet so I'm guessing it hasn't even been picked up. I'll wait and see when it arrives

Also...a further note about the medical process.

If you aren't sure of your immunisations then one thing I can recommend is to get a blood test a couple of weeks before your medical, please note this might be different from doctor to doctor etc so it may not make a difference in your medical exam. I don't have an immunisation record so a couple of weeks before my medical I went to my local doctor and took in a complete list of the vaccines the USA require and had a blood test to see if I had already received the vaccines when I was a baby/toddler.

Because of Medicare it only cost me time so I didn't mind doing it. My doctor printed the results on letterhead, stamped and signed the page and that was good enough proof for Dr.Rappaport so my blood didn't need to be tested again. While you are at your local doctor you could also get a sexual heath blood test. The only thing my blood was tested for at the USA medical was syphilis and if I had remembered to bring my sexual health blood test from 2 weeks earlier then I wouldn't have needed to give blood at all on the day of my exam, waiting for the blood results to come back is what slows down the medical from getting to the embassy, blood tests are usually a 2 day turnaround.

Also keep in mind that at your medical you will need to take a urine test, part of this test is for the presence of drugs so if you like to have a puff, sniff, snort or shelve of anything...you should stop NOW.